Finweek English Edition - October 24, 2019

DOUBLE TAKE BY RICO

@finweek finweek finweekmagazine finweek^ 24 October 2019^9

NUTS ABOUT SCIENCE

Billionaires Stewart and Lynda
Resnick announced a $750m
(about R11.1bn) pledge to the
California Institute of Technology
(Caltech) towards climate change
crisis research. The Resnicks’
donation marks the second-
largest gift to a US academic
institution ever, according to
The LA Times. The donation
comes amid growing alarm
over climate change and the
Trump administration’s rejection
of established science. The
Resnicks, whose Wonderful Co.
is the world’s largest producer
of almonds and pistachios, are
reputed to be among America’s
biggest farmers. They cited
unusual winter weather in
2015 – which resulted in their
pistachio crop taking a 70% hit,
heat-blasted oranges coming
in smaller and less prodigiously
than in the past – as well as
California’s persistent drought
as reasons that influenced their
decision.

$750m

R3.2bn

The SABC’s CEO, Madoda Mxakwe, told Business Times that the public broadcaster will not be going

back to the National Treasury for another bailout. This is after receiving a R3.2bn cash injection from

the Treasury. Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said that the SABC will be getting

R2.1bn of the bailout while the remaining R1.1bn is conditional and will only be dispensed to the SABC

if the broadcaster meets all the stipulated preconditions of a turnaround. Mxakwe said that the bailout

money would be used to settle all outstanding debts (the national broadcaster reportedly owes its service

providers R1.6bn) so that its free-to-air channels and stations could start investing in fresh content.

R744m

During a briefing to Parliament’s
standing committee on the
auditor-general, the chair of the
committee, John Biesman-
Simons, expressed concern
over the continued increase in
local government indebtedness.
Business Day reported that the
office of the auditor-general is
burdened with outstanding debt
of R744m in unpaid audit fees,
with nearly half of that being due
by municipalities. The year-end
debt of the auditor-general’s
office rose 15% to R744m
in 2018/19 compared with
R650m in 2017/18, with local
governments’ share rising 29% to
R321m from R249m the previous
year. Auditor-general Kimi
Makwetu gave the assurance
that the level of outstanding debt
does not compromise the work of
his office.

MUNICIPAL MORASS

ANOTHER SEASON OF SURVIVOR, SABC

Cell C placed core parts of its busi-

ness up for sale as it struggles with

R9bn debt and deepening losses,

according to Bloomberg. People

close to the matter told Bloomberg

that the carrier’s fibre-optic network

and base of billed customers are up

for sale, and that Cell C is currently

in talks with MTN to sell some of

its wireless frequencies to its larger

rival. The asset sale has report-

edly also attracted interest from

Vodacom and Telkom. Blue Label

Telecoms said in its results for the

year to 31 May that it had to write

down the value of its 45% holding in

Cell C to zero, citing the heavy losses

at Cell C. Blue Label paid R5.5bn

for its holding in Cell C just a few

years ago.

THE

BAD

South Africa’s first fully-fledged smartphone

factory is set to open at the Dube TradePort

Special Economic Zone, north of Durban, in

mid-October. The opening, by Pan-African

investment conglomerate Mara Group,

comes a year after its founder and CEO,

Ashish Thakkar, committed to investing

$100m (around R1.5bn) into SA’s first

dedicated smartphone factory during

President Ramaphosa’s SA Investment

Conference in Sandton last October,

reported MoneyWeb. Thakkar told the

publication that the group is investing

around $200m in the setup of two factories

in Kigali (opened in early October) and

Durban, both of which will manufacture

“made-in-Africa” smartphones for the first

time. He also said that while there are other

mobile phone facilities in Africa, but these

operate as assembly plants.

THE

GOOD

Since US president Donald Trump’s

decision to effect a full withdrawal of US

troops from northern Syria, a Turkish-

backed Arab militia has been accused

of carrying out summary executions

of civilians, while a Turkish airstrike

reportedly killed 14 people, including

a journalist, in a convoy heading to

the city of Ras al Ain. Critics say that

Trump’s move abandoned Kurdish

allies and paved the way for the Turkish

assault within Syria’s borders. The Wall

Street Journal reported that the Trump

administration was gearing up to sign

an executive order that would allow for

sanctions against any person associated

with the government of Turkey, warning

that “we can shut down the Turkish

economy,” for the launch of military

operations.

THE

UGLY